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Use of complementary and alternative medicine among Chinese breast cancer patients
Date Issued
2014
Publisher
Wiley
Journal
ISSN
1099-1611
1057-9249
Citation
Cheung, I. K. M., Ho, R. T. H., Chan, C. L. W., Yip, P. S. F., Lo, P. H. Y., Chan, C. K. P., & Luk, M. Y. (2014). Use of complementary and alternative medicine among Chinese breast cancer patients. In Psycho-Oncology (Ed.). Abstracts of the IPOS 16th world congress of psycho-oncology and psychosocial academy, 20 – 24 October 2014, Lisbon, Portugal: Posters 23rd October. The 16th World Congress of the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS 2014), Lisbon, Portugal (pp. 314-315). Wiley Online Library.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has raised in past dec- ades. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) classified CAM to five categories: Alternative medical systems, Mind- body interventions, Biologically-based therapies, Manipulative and Body-based methods and Energy Therapies. Some of the CAM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, has widely been used by people. How- ever, little is known about other CAM. This study aims at revealing the use of CAM among Chinese breast cancer patients. METHOD: Subjects were 140 Chinese cancer patients were recruited from two local hospitals and community cancer support organization in Hong Kong. All of them finished their chemotherapy treatment and about to start their radiotherapy treatment. In participate into this study, participants were asked to fill in a set of self-reported questionnaires for assessing psycho- logical health and their habit of using CAM.
RESULTS: For purpose of analysis, CAM list were classified according to the NCCAM 5 catego- ries: Alternative medical systems (Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese medicine), Mind-body inter- ventions (Guided imagery & Mindfulness), Biologi- cally-based therapies (Diet & Dietary supplements), Manipulative and Body-based methods (Acupres- sure & Reflexology) and Energy Therapies (Tai-chi & Qigong). 79 of 140 participants (56.4%) indi- cated the use of CAM before their commencement of radiotherapy. Among 79 participants, 47 of them (59.4%) were only using one type of CAM. Biologi- cally-based therapies was the most commonly used CAM among our participants. 13.9% (11 out of 79 participants) used more than 3 types of CAM.
CONCLUSIONS: Our research found out that the use of CAM was common among Chinese breast cancer patients. More than half of them used at least one type of CAM. The prevalence of using CAM was high. Moreover, around 40% used even more than one type of CAM. Lastly, diet and die- tary supplements were the most commonly used CAM among our participants. It showed the importance of dietary care among Chinese female patients. RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS: Limited research had been done on finding out the preva- lence of using CAM among Chinese cancer patients. The malpractice of using CAM might cause negative side- effects on cancer patients, as well as affecting the mainstream health care approaches. Scientific studies would be needed on collecting evidence on evaluating the effectiveness of the use of CAM among cancer patients. CLINI- CAL IMPLICATIONS: For providing psychoso- cial intervention for Chinese breast cancer patients, clinician and practitioner should address on the importance on the role of CAM. Apart from pro- viding mainstream health care approaches informa- tion, clinician should be well-equipped on the other CAM approaches like acupressure massage or qigong practice. Cancer patients could be more benefited from various psychosocial groups.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FUNDING: This study is supported by the Research Grants Council General Research Fund (HKU745110H), Hong Kong Cancer Fund, Queen Mary Hospital and Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital.
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